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Initially, the size and shape of the East Sea corresponded symmetrically with Belegaer, the Western Sea separating Middle-earth from Aman, but when Melkor cast down the Two Lamps, this symmetry was lost; Middle-earth was thrust eastward, causing Belegaer to expand and the East Sea to narrow.[3][2]:292-3[note 1] At this time, the East Sea was narrowest in the extreme north and south of the world, where only small straits filled with ice separated Middle-earth and the Land of the Sun. These straits connected the East Sea to Ekkaia, the Outer Sea.[1]

During the War for the Sake of the Elves between the Valar and Melkor, the East Sea became connected to Belegaer. The inland Sea of Ringil, originally set in the mid-south of Middle-earth, grew in size and "became a great sea flowing north-eastward and joining by straights both the Western and Eastern Seas."[note 2][2]:293-4

After Melkor defiled the Two Trees of Valinor, the Valar used the fruit of Laurelin to create the Sun and the flower of Telperion to create the Moon.[4] In the evenings, the Sun set in the Outer Sea to the west of Aman, where it was pulled down by Ulmo's servants and sent under the earth[4] to the East Sea, where it rose at dawn.[5] The Moon followed the Sun on this path.[4]

In the Second Age, the Númenóreans sailed about Middle-earth to the uttermost east[6] and could see the Gates of Morning from their ships,[7] suggesting that they sailed into the East Sea. It was also in this age that a final change was made to the earth that likely affected the East Sea: when Ilúvatar sunk Númenor and made the world round, he "cast back ... the Empty Lands east of [Middle-earth], and new lands and seas were made".[7] How this impacted the geography of the East Sea is unknown.

In early texts, Hildórien - the site where the first Men awoke in the First Age - was placed in the central region of Middle-earth near the shore of the East Sea. Hildórien was surrounded by the Mountains of the Wind, a semi-circular mountain chain that derived its named from the strong winds that blew into them from over the East Sea due to the rising of the Sun.[1][2]:293 In later texts, Hildórien is said to be "in the midmost parts of Middle-earth" with no mention of the East Sea or the Mountains of the Wind.[10]